Professor's prop guns touch off campus alert

Professor's prop guns touch off campus alert

November 10th, 2010 in News

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A professor bringing a musket to class as a prop for a classroom lesson inadvertently caused a brief scare at a university in St. Louis when a passing student mistook the rifle and called police to report a gunman on campus.

Tuesday's campus-wide alert at the University of Missouri-St. Louis lasted about 10 minutes before campus police ferreted out at that the worry was for naught.

A spokesman for the university says a history professor who teaches western civilization at the school brought an antique long rifle to campus, much like he does once a semester while dressed up in fur trader attire for a re-enactment in his class.

After a student reported a gunman on campus, an alert system that was activated sent electronic messages to students telling them to avoid Lucas Hall. The university quickly canceled the alert after realizing the mix-up.